The present invention relates to a vehicle body construction of an automobile and, more particularly, to a bracket construction for a seat striker installed to a vehicle body (cabin side).
In the case of a folding type seat in which a seat back (hereinafter referred to as a squab) can be folded forward to enlarge a cargo room of an automobile, the squab must be fixed at a position at which a passenger is usually seated so that the squab is prevented from moving.
For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 11, usually, a latch (not shown in the figure) is provided on the squab side, and an engagement device called a striker 21 is provided on the vehicle body side. By engaging the striker 21 with the latch, the squab is fixed. The striker 21 is usually formed of a steel round bar, and is installed to the inside at the side of vehicle body with bolts 22 or fixed thereto by welding. However, if a heavy article at the rear of the seat (for example, in the cargo room) is moved forward by a collision of vehicle or other causes, a strong force is applied to the squab. In such a case, the round bar shaped striker engaging at the side end of squab causes deformation of the squab and thus causes an increase in displacement of the squab.
In order to strengthen the holding of the squab, a strong stick-shaped striker is sometimes used. However, since the construction is such that the striker sticks in a part of the squab, the latch is located at a position on the slightly inner side (in the direction of the vehicle centerline) from the side end of the squab. Therefore, it is difficult to provide a strong bracket, which is used to support the striker located apart from the vehicle body side, at the vehicle body side.
On the other hand, in a lap and diagonal seat belt 15 shown in FIG. 11, the positions of a belt take-up device (seat belt retractor) 26 provided at a lower part of the side of a vehicle body and a junction (seat belt retractor) at an upper part of the side of a vehicle body (roof) differ greatly from each other in the vehicle width direction (transverse direction). Therefore, when a belt line of the seat belt 15 exerts an influence upon interior parts or a passenger, a belt guide 23 for regulating the belt line of the seat belt 15 must be installed on a side panel 13 with screws 24.
When an interior trim part 27, which is installed at the vehicle body side, considerably projects toward the cabin side and further the construction such as to support a heavy article such as a luggage board (parcel shelf) is provided, a bracket 25 for holding the interior trim part 27 must be provided on the side panel 13.
The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and accordingly an object thereof is to provide a bracket construction for a seat striker, which can firmly hold the seat striker at a position distant from the vehicle body side. Also, another object of the present invention is to provide a bracket construction for a seat striker, which can omit various parts.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a bracket construction for a seat striker, which comprises a bracket body installed to the vehicle body side in a cabin and a seat striker installed to the bracket body, the seat striker being connected detachably to a folding type squab to fix the squab, wherein the bracket body projects toward the vehicle inside from the outside end of the squab and extends toward the rear of vehicle from the installation position of the seat striker so that it is long in the vehicle longitudinal direction. The bracket body is formed by connecting an upper member and a lower member to each other.
The bracket body has a seat belt guide portion. The seat belt guide portion has an upper guide and a lower guide which are separated from each other in the lengthwise direction of the seat belt, and both of these guides can come into contact with the seat belt. Both of the upper guide and lower guide, which can come into contact with the seat belt, each have a flange shape bent into an arcuate shape in the direction such as to be separated from the seat belt. The bracket body is provided with a trim installation portion which covers the vehicle body side so that the trim covers the bracket body.
Since the bracket body projects toward the vehicle inside from the outside end of the squab and is long in the vehicle longitudinal direction, the seat striker can be held at a vehicle inside position separated from the vehicle body side, and further the squab can be held firmly. Therefore, even if a force is applied to the vehicle body, the squab can withstand the force, and the displacement of squab can be kept small.
If the bracket body is formed by connecting the upper member and the lower member to each other, the workability can be improved.
If the configuration is such that the bracket body has the seat belt guide portion, a seat belt guide function can be added to the bracket body without addition of parts.
If the configuration is such that the seat belt guide portion has the upper guide and the lower guide which are separated from each other in the lengthwise direction of the seat belt, the seat belt can be guided at the upper and lower positions of the bracket, so that the seat belt can be slid smoothly.
If the configuration is such that both of the upper guide and lower guide, which can come into contact with the seat belt, each have a flange shape bent into an arcuate shape in the direction such as to be separated from the seat belt, the contact portion of seat belt is in face-to-face contact, so that the seat belt can be prevented from being damaged.
If the bracket body is provided with the trim installation portion which covers the vehicle body side, a trim support function can be added without addition of parts.